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I'm not positive on that one. I know there are some, but they can be few and far between. I think it really all depends where you are at, food, water, etc. Water is the main point. It is really dry around there, so I would focus on finding some water. How far away from Clovis are you looking to hunt? If it were me, I would be looking out towards Tucomcari (N and W of there as well) and Ruidoso. My uncle has shot some really nice bucks around Carlsbad, but they are hard to find as well. I would say your best bet is rifle hunting around Clovis. It is pretty open and fairly flat around that area if I remember right, but it has been several years since I have been through there.

I went to college at Hobbs, NM and we hunted dove and quail like it was going out of style. Never saw any antelope and saw some decent deer, but they were scarce... of course we weren't really looking for them either so maybe it wasn't that bad.

Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me.
Genesis 27:3 (NKJV)

Thanks for the detailed info. I guess I just need to see if I can get any private land permission in the Clovis area, assuming I can get an over the counter tag for a muley. I def won't mind driving that far, say 2-3 hrs for a big hunt but would love somewhere closer where I could run some cameras and make it easier to scout on a regular basis.

I've heard 33 and 31 can hold good mulies in the sandhills but you really have to get out and do a good amount of scouting. 34 used to be great for deer, but from what I understand, too many tags and elk competition has crippled the herd there. Kind of same story in 36.

Thanks for the detailed info. I guess I just need to see if I can get any private land permission in the Clovis area, assuming I can get an over the counter tag for a muley. I def won't mind driving that far, say 2-3 hrs for a big hunt but would love somewhere closer where I could run some cameras and make it easier to scout on a regular basis.

No over the counter tags in NM. Everything is draw. You MIGHT get lucky and look on the NMDGF website for left over tags if you really want to hunt.

To my understanding all big game is through the draw in NM. When I went to school in NM we hunted birds a lot with a license from Wal-Mart, but I don't believe you can hunt big game without getting a tag through the draw. As far as the open gate thing, I'm not familiar with that.

Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me.
Genesis 27:3 (NKJV)